The Accidental Archmage: Book Eight (Where Titans Walk) Read online

  “The foes of the Titans must have forced their way in,” he shrugged, stating the obvious for want of any other reply. “Though it could mean that things might be easier for us since their attention would be on that intrusion.”

  “Works for me,” blurted Tyndur. “They’re welcome to each other’s throat.”

  Tyler merely nodded and turned back to walking toward the distant mountain. Around them remained a desert as the landscape didn’t shift. He had a suspicion that it wouldn’t. This close to the fortress, a desert would be ideal for lost souls and unwanted guests. Visibility from the fort’s ramparts was given a huge bonus, though the young Archmage strongly doubted if the company could be seen at this range.

  “It could be a mirage, but I see an oasis farther on,” remarked Gullin suddenly.

  Tyler couldn’t see it, despite his enhanced senses, nor could any of the company. Gullin had the innate benefit of her draconian eyesight, and that meant she did see something. If it was true, then it was welcome news to the mage, and, he suspected, to the rest of the companions. Sitting down on hot desert sand was the worst way to relax.

  “We’ll make for it when we’re in the area. Everybody needs to rest. This desert air sucks the air out of one’s lungs,” instructed the mage.

  “Excellent. Walking around wearing armor in this terrain drains stamina, even with the refreshing breeze Thyma is sending our way,” added Kobu.

  “I do wonder why the land hasn’t changed,” commented the Valkyrie. But it was statement followed by a loud groan from Habrok. Surprised, the mage glanced in the ranger’s direction.

  “What’s the matter, Habrok?” he asked.

  “Astrid just jinxed us,” the ranger replied with annoyance.

  “I’d kick your backside and shove this blade up your butthole if you weren’t my brother-in-law,” Astrid reacted immediately. A distinct menace was apparent in her tone.

  “Come on, ranger,” remarked Tyler. “What could be worse than a desert?”

  “With all respect, sire. That would make it a double jinx. A lava-filled land. A place swarming with strange beasties. Underwater. There’s a lot of worse places,” replied Habrok somberly.

  Tyler grinned. The ranger had come a long way from the man he knew back in Skaney. The warrior who jinxed his early travels through this world with fate-challenging quips.

  “I don’t think those things would happen, Habrok. As long as we stay on the road and keep this lamp with us,” reassured Tyler. It was a reminder that drew the attention of the company to the artifact.

  “No questions, and don’t give me that look. I’d tell you if I could,” added the mage hurriedly.

  His clearly rushed response resulted in faint smiles on the faces of Gullin and Thyma.

  Those two know something, thought a miffed yet disturbed Tyler. He was sorely tempted to ask the pair but held off. Right now, an exchange of inconvenient questions was the last thing he wanted.

  ***

  Eventually, the company reached a point in the road parallel to the oasis the dragoness mentioned. Everybody could see it now, but its hazy outline made it challenging to determine whether it was but an illusion, a product of dangerous magical energies, or real. If it did exist, then the issue of whether it was a trap again arose. Unfortunately, Gullin couldn’t tell whether it was indeed a fertile refuge in the middle of the desert. Telling the others to stay where they were, Tyler, accompanied by the exile, ventured several yards into the sand. The oasis was about three hundred feet away and looked welcoming as ever.

  At the end of Tyler’s tentative foray into the landscape, he halted. The edge of the lamp’s power revealed a change in the land. Awaiting them was a barren, rocky landscape shot through with numerous geysers of vented fire. The mage wasn’t surprised. Tartarus already had taught him to expect the bizarre and unexpected. Yet the vision of the oasis remained. It was sharper now, and the vagueness which previously defined the image had cleared up. He glanced at Kobu with a questioning look.

  “It appears real. It could be there. Yet the fiery ground does strain my belief in its existence,” said the exile. “But then again, this cursed domain strains my idea of what is normal.”

  “We go forward or back to the road?” asked the mage, indecision gnawing at him.

  Kobu glanced back at their watching companions. The exile grinned.

  “We’ve come this far, even if that landscape doesn’t look inviting. It does seem bizarre that an oasis would be in the middle of all that,” said Kobu.

  “Probably a trap for the unwary. But you’re right. And we do need a place to rest,” replied Tyler with trepidation. “Come on.”

  The duo moved forward, carefully picking their way through the cracked ground. Tyler was surprised to see the flames dying out as they came closer. The small lamp was proving to be invaluable. Several minutes later, they were at the location. It was real, and the sand extended some distance around it. A calm pool of clear water greeted them among the palm trees. It did have a strange golden sheen to it. Still, the exile went to the water’s edge, examined it, and pronounced it ordinary freshwater, though with a mineral tang. Not a creature was around. The two looked at each other and walked back to fetch their companions.

  ***

  “Rest. Bath. Food,” exclaimed Tyndur as he waded into the water. “Just what I needed!”

  “You forgot enemies,” observed Habrok, who was already stripping away his gear.

  “Later, ranger. Later,” replied the einherjar with a laugh.

  Tyler watched the companions, his back against a tree. The happy mood was catching. Even Asag looked relaxed. But the mage couldn’t let down his guard. There was a totally different landscape around them, and the mage wondered if some flaming creatures would come and disturb the mood.

  “Thyma, any chance of fiery beasts coming into this place?” asked the mage when he became sufficiently bothered by the idea.

  “I don’t think so, Archmage. The monsters appear to be localized to their areas. The oasis is desert, so I guess we should expect beasts native to the terrain,” answered the Oracle thoughtfully.

  “Such as?”

  “A lot. The people of Hellas were explorers back in the First World. They were familiar with deserts. That southern land across the sea was called by several names. Aphrikē comes to mind, though it has also been called Alkebulan. Different names. Numerous stories of fantastic…” started Thyma, only to be distracted by an outcry from the einherjar who was up to his waist in the pool.

  “By the balls of Thor! The rocks under the water are gold nuggets!” cried out Tyndur.

  “Fat chance you’d be able to use them here!” shouted Astrid immediately. However, Gullin rushed to the water to examine the sight.

  The mage felt a tug on his arm and turned from the spectacle of his companions impressed and intrigued by the discovery. It was the Oracle.

  “Tell them to get out of the water and prepare for battle. We’re about to be attacked,” said the woman.

  “What?” exclaimed the mage.

  “Gold and ants go together in magical places. The Myrmex Indikos, or Indian Ant, is sensitive to disturbances involving the gold deposits it guards,” replied the Oracle as she cast a vine spell, creating a low thorny fence around the oasis.

  The sand around the oasis suddenly erupted in explosive bursts, revealing red, dog-sized insects. They were ants, yet monster versions of their miniature cousins. More came out from around the refuge, their antennae rapidly moving in the air.

  We’re on top of a fucking giant ant colony? concluded the startled mage. I should have known this oasis was too good to be true.

  “Alright, lad and lassies! Time to fight for our right to take a bath!”

  It was Tyndur. The warrior had come out of the pool and put on his armor with remarkable speed.

  ***

  “Defend the fence! Don’t go out into the sand!” shouted the mage, worried about the heroics of Asag and Tyndur. Individually, t
he ants, despite their size, weren’t a problem. Their numbers would be if what he suspected – a colony of them- was correct. They’d be facing thousands of the bloody creatures. The companions rushed to defend the sides of the vine barrier. Thyma looked back at the mage as she walked to her position.

  “At least, they’re not fire ants,” she laughed.

  Tyler could understand the sentiment, though not the laughter. But his mind was struck by what the Oracle mentioned.

  Fire ants? Giant fire ants? He knew about fire ants back on Earth. A small insect, though they move around in a vast column, in numbers massive enough to lay waste to everything in their path.

  He glanced at Kobu and asked the exile why he hadn’t joined the others. The warrior casually remarked that they were standing on sand. Ants were liable to pop up where they stood. But Tyler could see the number of their foes were growing, and some had already started attacking the Oracle’s fence.

  Fighting them only on the surface wasn’t ideal, he concluded. Their colony and access points must also be attacked. Tyler promptly resorted to Hephaestus’s spell, this time flung in a circular arc around the oasis. At the same time, he saw Thyma’s thorny enclosure getting thicker and higher. The change would buy them time. A few ants were able to tear their way through but were speedily dispatched by the companions. As Tyler cast this spell, an ant burst out of the ground a few feet away and was immediately crushed by the exile. Suddenly, plumes of fire started erupting out of the ground outside the oasis, burning insects and flinging others away by the force of the initial fiery geysers.

  Unfortunately, the magical, fiery assault also stirred up the colony. Numerous ants now appeared within their refuge, boring holes in the ground. Lightning bolts flew from the mage’s hands and his guides contributed their own brand of death. It was sheer chaotic mayhem. Tyler didn’t care about the distinction between worker or soldier ant. Any insect that came within view became the recipient of a bolt or a fiery blast. He again renewed the fire spell outside the oasis when the mage felt it going out. They had enough problems within their defended area. Tyler wasn’t worried about the ability of most of the companions in dealing with the threat. But he was concerned about Habrok. The man’s expertise was long-range combat, not melee. Then he saw Astrid with the ranger and Tyler breathed a sigh of relief.

  The air was already smoky, heavy with the acrid, acidic smell of burned insects. A stiff breeze abruptly swept through the oasis, driving away the haze and the repulsive scent. Yet Tyler could see more and more ants coming out of the ground. The chittering and the clacking of their mandibles became a deafening and frightful racket. He couldn’t even hear Asag’s colorful comments and Tyndur’s curses anymore. The mage began to wonder if sheer numbers and the close confines of the oasis would work against them. There was no line or order of battle. Each companion was an island surrounded by countless insects. Asag, though he had increased his size, couldn’t grow to a giant. The rock demon was liable to injure or kill companions if he adopted the form.

  Tyler was also severely limited on the kind of spells he could use. But the pinpoint accuracy of his guides proved to be a blessing in such close confines. It was a welcome addition to their combat abilities considering that the type of fighting the companions was engaged in was disadvantageous to the battling company. The mass of ants also meant the companions couldn’t get to each other, and Tyler knew the company was most effective when it worked as a team. The battle against Sutr’s hordes had proven that fact. The prevailing situation was the opposite of what the group was accustomed to and made for a considerable disadvantage.

  In desperation, he cast Dionysius’s sleep spell and was rewarded by the sight of their insect foes within the oasis swiftly dropping to the ground or becoming immobile. He saw the companions looking at him, and the mage signaled for everyone to come over. Members of the company started moving towards Tyler, bashing slumbering insects along the way. But their progress was hindered by the numbers of dead and sleeping ants. His own guides kept up their own barrage of energy lances. Still, though the ones within the oasis were affected, the ants outside the Oracle’s fence were not, and Tyler could see portions of the wall of vines starting to give way.

  More of their opponents came out of the holes in the sand. A few minutes had already passed, and the companions were already near the mage. Then the quiescent insects woke up. Confused fighting started all over again, though Thyma at least had reached the mage, the piles of their foes moving apart as she made her way. Strangely, all he could think about when he saw the sight was Moses parting the Red Sea. It was funny, yet his amusement passed quickly.

  “What the hell woke them up? “the mage asked the Oracle. He reasoned that if anybody knew why, it would be Thyma.

  “Ants don’t really sleep. They rest in a state similar to sleep. But only a few minutes at a time,” she replied as her vines grabbed several ants and tore them apart. Kobu was again busy hacking away, trying to defend Tyler and, at the same time, open a path to Habrok and Astrid, the two nearest to them.

  “Open paths to the others!” Tyler instructed the Oracle.

  “I could, but considering the increasing numbers of our foes, they’d merely block whatever opening I make,” replied Thyma, who again summoned a breeze to blow away the smoke and smell of the battlefield.

  Then the mage saw larger ants had started to appear. This time, the head, thorax, and abdomen appeared to be covered by a carapace. Tyler suddenly realized that they’ve fighting mostly worker ants at the start. The big boys, the soldiers, have come put to play.

  Shit. Now, this is a fucked up situation, he considered with alarm. And won’t their numbers ever lessen? We’re going to lose to a bunch of ants? Ants?

  A considerable time had already passed. Still, the insects kept on coming, climbing over their burned, sliced, or crushed brethren and filling the air with their frightening clacking. Tyler was already worried about the effects of fatigue on the company. Except for Asag and probably Gullin, all would eventually get tired. That was when lethal mistakes happen. Tyler had already shifted his staff to its spear form and was using it to keep ants at bay as his guides incinerated them. The area was practically covered with dead ants, piles in some parts of the oasis. Yet their numbers seemed to be increasing. Tyler was already thinking that the situation was worse than facing the undead army back in Hedmark.

  Suddenly, an enormous black cloud appeared above their location and then abruptly dropped, engulfing the entire area. It became dark as a night without stars or the moon. Tyler could barely see his hands. He tried a light spell, but it wouldn’t work. But what primarily caught his attention was the silence. The mage couldn’t hear the ants anymore. The strange murk slowly disappeared, leaving behind a desert oasis free of the insects, dead or alive. The companions rushed to Tyler’s side and immediately formed a defensive formation around him. It was with great relief that the mage welcomed the presence and unhurt condition of his friends. They all smelled like shit, and virtually everybody was covered with yellow and green ant secretions. It was a pungent, penetrating odor and made Tyler want to vomit. The Oracle noticed.

  “You could take a bath after we resolve this present mystery. Just be thankful these ants didn’t have acidic excretion. I don’t feel so well myself,” said Thyma slowly.

  A whirlwind of mist appeared before the company. Then its dark, smoky tendrils coalesced into the form of a pale woman wearing a black Greek peplos, a long tubular garment extending to the ankles, with the top edge folded down about halfway. She had long dark, silky hair that reached the middle of her back, and the entire ensemble was topped by a small crown on her head. Tyler reflected she was extremely beautiful, though in a creepy kind of way.

  “Nyx. What’s the goddess of the night doing here?” whispered Thyma.

  “I don’t know. But she just saved our collective assets,” the mage replied under his breath.

  “Just be careful. Even Zeus is wary of her. Her daughters are th
e Fates – Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. You’re mortal. She could easily ask them to cut your thread earlier than what the fates decreed,” replied the Oracle.

  Somehow, I doubt that, thought Tyler.

  The new arrival walked to the mage, looking neither left nor right. Tyndur tried to block her way but was gently pushed aside. It was a reaction that made the einherjar glance at the mage. Tyler didn’t doubt that the warrior wouldn’t care if the woman was a deity. He’d attack immediately if the mage told him. But a shake of Tyler’s head stayed the einherjar’s hand, though the warrior kept his axe aflame.

  A preternatural coldness preceded the deity who maintained her gaze on Tyler as she approached. The mage was starting to feel uncomfortable with the silent treatment. Nyx hadn’t said a word, not even a greeting as the Greek gods were wont to do. Finally, she stopped a few feet from the mortal. The mage could see that far from being of material form, the deity, including her attire, was made up of solidified mist. Tendrils of it could be seen wafting away into the air from her figure. It was a disconcerting sight, especially when it resulted in a face constantly reasserting itself due to the loss of substance.